


echoes

by adietxt



Category: One Piece
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Kind...of...the older selves are dating; their younger selves aren't yet. The usual hijinks., M/M, Self-Indulgent, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:58:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adietxt/pseuds/adietxt
Summary: Sanji stares at the two men before him and thinks, he must be dreaming. Hehasto be.An older version of himself stares back at him, amusement written all over his face. Another version of Zoro — still taller than even his older self, Sanji grudgingly notes — is standing beside him, his arm stretched across Older Sanji’s back with a hand resting comfortably at his hip. As if itbelongsthere.There is no way the universe is this cruel to him, is there?





	echoes

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still alive! And working on the prompts, really. I have a couple of them on my drafts right now, but I needed to get this one out of my system first though. I've always loved the "younger selves meeting their older selves who are already together" trope, and today I sat down and thought, _hey. I could write it._ So I did.
> 
> I take prompts for all Sanji pairings. Feel free to drop them in the comments or on my tumblr, [sanjisock](http://sanjisock.tumblr.com). There's quite a queue now, though, so please be patient with me.

Sanji stares at the two men before him and thinks, he must be dreaming.

He _has_ to be.

An older version of himself stares back at him, amusement written all over his face. Another version of Zoro —  _still_ taller than even his older self, Sanji grudgingly notes — is standing beside him, his arm stretched across Older Sanji’s back with a hand resting comfortably at his hip. As if it _belongs_ there.

There is no way the universe is this cruel to him, is there?

But no matter how many times Sanji blinks, the supposedly imaginary beings refuse to disappear from his sight. He even rubs his eyes for good measure. No dice.

Older Zoro is the first one to break the silence. “Huh, I don’t remember you being this cute.”

Older Sanji whips his head and glares at him. “Are you telling me I’m no longer cute?”

Older Zoro smirks at that. “You’re jealous,” he says, teasing.

“I’m not jealous,” Sanji’s older self says in a tone that Sanji absolutely recognizes as the one he uses whenever he’s jealous.

And because the universe _is_ this cruel to him and the two men in front of him are probably — Sanji shudders at the thought —  _dating_ or something, Older Zoro leans to press a chaste kiss on the other Sanji’s cheek as he says, “sure you aren’t.”

Sanji is going to need, like, _therapy_. And probably a dagger to scoop his eyes out.

His older self seems to sense his discomfort, thankfully, because he doesn’t start making out with Zoro then and there (oh, god, the mental image, Sanji is going to need _so_ much therapy), and instead shoves Zoro away, muttering, “wait a second, Marimo, I think — I think this is… _before_.”

Older Zoro pauses and looks at his surroundings for the first time. Sunny floats idly, quiet; the rest of the crew has gone to explore the new island. Sanji has stayed back to keep watch of the ship, a decision he began to regret when the older version of himself appeared out of nowhere on the deck with _Zoro_ , out of all people.

“Before…what?” Sanji asks before he can stop himself.

Older Sanji rubs his chin, thinking. “Where are we docked at, right now?”

“Not sure yet,” Sanji shrugs. “We just arrived a few hours ago. We left from Water Seven, though.”

The older version of himself smiles at that. “Then, definitely before.”

The cryptic talk is starting to piss Sanji off. He loves his fair share of theatrics, but being at the receiving end of it proves to be more frustrating than entertaining. “Before _what_ exactly?”

He turns to the Older Zoro, hoping to get something out of the brute, but Zoro refuses to meet his eyes. Instead Zoro is rubbing the back of his neck in what looks like a nervous tick, a blush appearing across the bridge of his nose. “You know, before…you and me.” He says, and pauses. He makes a vague gesture between himself and Sanji. “Well, not really, in your case it’s more about you and my other me…”

Oh. _Oh_.

Sanji feels his face warming at the thought; he’s probably sporting a blush that could rival Zoro’s in front of him now. “Zoro and me…I mean, you and me…” he turns to his older self and opts for anger instead, because it’s the easier emotion. “What’s with _that_ anyways? How could you…how could I…” he trails off, for a lack of better words.

His older self just _laughs_ at that, that fucker. Who knew Sanji would grow up to be such an _asshole_. “Come on,” his older self says, and starts messing with Sanji’s hair. “You know we both always thought this Marimo here is pretty hot.”

Sanji feels like he’s choking on air.

“There’s no way I’ve ever,” he says, and he was going to finish that sentence, _really_ , but Older Zoro is standing _right there_ with those sculpted muscles and toned chest and this is all just so fucking unfair. He thinks of his own Zoro (not _his_ particularly, fuck no, what is wrong with him), nineteen-year-old and bare-chested and — it’s not his fault that he has _eyes_ , damn it.

Older Zoro has started to walk away from the two, observing the Sunny. Sanji feels like his older self is waiting until they’re out of Zoro’s earshot before going, “jokes aside…we really were kind of slow, you know.” He tilts his head towards Zoro. “He’s waited for a long time.”

Sanji feels his stomach flip. “What are you even talking about,” he says, even though it seems foolish to lie to himself.

“The looks he’s given us when he thought we weren’t looking…” His older self says, and trails off. “Seems pretty cruel to keep pretending we never noticed, don’t you think?”

Sanji can feel his heart jackrabbiting beneath his ribcage. He’s never admitted this to anyone — the fact that he knows about Zoro’s affection towards him for quite some time now, but more importantly, the fact that he has stopped minding it a long time ago. He thinks of his older self, the way he leaned comfortably into Zoro’s embrace, and wonders, _how does it feel_. _How does it feel_.

What stumbles out of his mouth is, “when did he…?”

His older self shakes his head. “It’s not my place to tell,” he says. But then his eyes light up at the sight of something behind Sanji, and he says, almost teasingly, “why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Sanji follows the line of sight of his older self only to see Zoro. Not the older, taller one from the future — the one standing at the top of Sunny’s railings is the nineteen-year-old Zoro from his time. The one Sanji travels with, the one he’s shared a lot of memories with. _His_ Zoro.

Speaking of, the nineteen-year-old Zoro currently looks flabbergasted, and Sanji doesn’t fault him — it’s probably quite surprising to go back to your ship and see two versions of your shipmate talking casually with one another. Zoro has a stupid expression on his face, mouth hanging open, but Sanji thinks it’s charming, in an odd, Zoro-kind of way, and _hell_. He really _has_ gone and fallen for the Marimo, hasn’t he.

He feels a tap on his back and hears his older self say, “well, what are you waiting for?”

When he turns, both people from the future have disappeared from the deck of Sunny.

“What the hell was that, cook?” Zoro — his Zoro — asks, and Sanji turns back to face him. _How does it feel_ , he wonders, thinking of the way the older Zoro pressed his lips on the other Sanji’s cheek. _How does it feel._

He closes the distance between them.

**Author's Note:**

> So how did that future Zoro and Sanji even get back in time, you ask? [Starts laughing nervously and pulls on my collar] It's...devil fruits...One Piece magic...stuff...I'm sorry I just wanted to do a Zosan scene.


End file.
